Speedy Trial

WASHINGTON -- Andersen's lawyer said Sunday that a speedy trial might allow the accounting firm to stay in business, backing away from the company's earlier claims that federal charges would be a "death penalty" for the firm. Andersen said in a March 13 letter to the Justice Department that the indictment over shredding documents related to audits of bankrupt energy trader Enron Corp. was tantamount to a "death penalty on the firm."

The Los Angeles County district attorney's chronic failure to be ready for trials on time threatens the effectiveness of the popular "one-trial" jury system, scheduled to expand to the largest courthouses downtown next month, top legal officials say. Several judges said that although the one-trial system is working elsewhere, delays blamed on prosecutors in Los Angeles could create a ripple effect that limits juror availability.

One of the two men accused of killing a state senator's son in November demanded a speedy trial, while the other did not appear for the scheduled hearing Tuesday. Defendant Dwayne Reed, 22, wanted the speedy trial. A bailiff said co-defendant Clifton Terrell, 18, had been in the hospital ward since the weekend, but did not say why. Hunter McPherson, 27, was walking home with his girlfriend Nov. 17 in the city's Potrero Hill district when they were allegedly robbed at gunpoint.

National Hells Angels leader George Christie Jr. pleaded not guilty Tuesday in Ventura County Superior Court to charges of running a criminal gang that stole drugs from an Air Force clinic and peddled them to high school students. In a brief hearing, Christie, 54, maintained his innocence of 23 criminal counts in a broad drug and racketeering case filed in February against 28 motorcycle gang members and associates. He is also charged with tax evasion, grand theft, fraud and firearms possession.

The first four Los Angeles police officers charged with conspiring to frame suspects in the Rampart scandal on Tuesday waived their right to a preliminary hearing and demanded a prompt trial. "My client wants to go to trial quickly to demonstrate his innocence," said Harland Braun, attorney for Sgt. Michael Buchanan. Prosecutors agreed to waive the preliminary hearing, a step that means the trial could get underway as early as Sept. 29.

A hearing on domestic violence charges against Monrovia Mayor Robert T. Bartlett has been set for June 20. Bartlett, known as "Mr. Monrovia," faces felony charges for allegedly abducting and physically abusing his girlfriend, Monica Godfrey, who was seven months pregnant, before threatening to throw her from a bridge. The mid-April incident allegedly began at a San Bernardino residence.

Motel handyman Cary Stayner, who allegedly confessed to killing four women in and around Yosemite National Park, probably won't face trial until next year in the killing of naturalist Joie Ruth Armstrong. Judge Anthony Ishii on Thursday said a trial date probably will be scheduled Dec. 2, after both sides finish a series of pretrial motions. The judge asked Stayner if he understood that he won't be getting the speedy trial defendants are entitled to ask for.

Re "One Way Out of a Mess: 'Censure Plus,' " Commentary, Dec. 30, and your Dec. 31 editorial: The Constitution has laid out a very specific course to deal with the type of situation we face. The House has already fulfilled its obligation by impeaching Bill Clinton and the Senate should proceed with a speedy trial. If Clinton is convicted, he is removed. If President Clinton is not convicted, he will finish his term. The independent counsel will still have the option of trying Clinton for the alleged perjury and other charges after he leaves office.

A judge suspended indefinitely the trial of an alleged Nazi war criminal Monday, saying the accused is too sick to appear in court. The judge said a doctors' report showed that Aleksandras Lileikis, 91, is suffering from serious coronary disease and will be unable to leave the hospital for several weeks. Lileikis appeared briefly in court Thursday in a wheelchair but was rushed away in an ambulance after complaining of shortness of breath.

Attorneys for the Long Beach teenager accused in the sexual assault and murder of a 7-year-old girl in a Nevada casino failed Tuesday to persuade a judge to delay next week's trial. "This case is over 14 months old," District Judge Myron Leavitt said. "The state has a right to a speedy trial too." Jeremy Strohmeyer, 19, is accused of the May 1997 sexual assault and strangulation of Sherrice Iverson in a restroom at the Primm Valley Hotel in Primm, 43 miles southwest of Las Vegas.